Door hinge constructions are well known and generally include a hinge pin defining an axis of rotation for the door and a hinge bearing for receiving the hinge pin. Generally the axis of rotation of the door remain in a fixed position during the entire opening and closing operation.
In some environments, pivotable doors are arranged adjacent to one another, and open and close towards one another. This can lead to an undesired engagement between the edges of the two doors as one pivots relative to the other, particularly where the positioning of the two doors is close. In some particular environments, such as in French door style refrigerators or some side-by-side refrigerators, there are additional components on the doors, such as sealing gaskets, which can also detrimentally engage one another during the opening and closing operations, causing additional friction and also causing the parts to close improperly. For example, in a French door refrigerator, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,248,159, 4,288,135 and 5,975,661, adjacent doors are provide with sealing gaskets which may include internal magnets which are to sealingly engage one another when the doors close. On occasion, the adjoining gaskets, due to the pivotal movement therebetween, when one door closes relative to the other, interfere with one another and do not effect a tight seal therebetween. This could result in the gaskets not seating against one another in a flush sealing arrangement, thereby preventing a tight seal which can lead to extra energy being consumed by the appliance trying to compensate for the improper seal, damage to goods located in the refrigeration appliance if the compensation is inadequate, and condensation or other unsightly and perhaps damaging conditions to occur. In a side-by-side style refrigerator, a similar result could occur where a gasket might remain engaged against an adjacent gasket or door preventing that gasket from properly sealing against a face of the appliance.
Therefore, it would be an improvement in the art if there were provided a hinge arrangement that would overcome the above noted problems.